


Falling

by obfuscatedheart



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-10-04 23:38:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17313977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obfuscatedheart/pseuds/obfuscatedheart
Summary: Will has thrown them off the cliff. Now he is falling.





	Falling

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the After the Fall zine which I didn’t quite make! 
> 
> Beta read by the incomparable justlikeyouimagined

Air rushes past him, but he can’t hear it. All he hears is the thudding of Hannibal’s heart.

Even now, when they will surely die, there is barely an uptick. At least, no more than when Will had pulled him close. 

It’s ecstasy, holding him.

He’s counting them down. The seconds seem to contract and expand in equal measure. Will hopes the moment both lasts forever and is over quickly. 

Hannibal only holds him closer, and Will knows that he doesn’t hate him for this. Never this. After all, he’s following Hannibal down. 

He had made sure of that. 

No life with him. None without. 

“Relax.” Will feels the word more than he hears it. 

In the moment, it seems fitting that Hannibal is the one to assuage his fears. But then, he’s never met a man quite like Hannibal. 

He lets his limbs go slack, whilst maintaining his hold. 

“Clever boy.”

The statement radiates through his chest like a light, it feels almost bigger than him. When had he become so hungry for Hannibal’s praise? 

How long had it been? Three seconds? Or was it three years? 

It hurts. 

Breaking the surface is like being gutted all over again: Hannibal is ripped from his grasp. 

The pressure on his chest is confusing and he wants to breathe even though he knows he shouldn’t. 

Panicking, he can’t see Hannibal, and that scares Will more than the loss of his own life. 

A scream rips free from deep in his chest, and he realises that bubbles of air are moving upward. 

His right arm doesn’t want to cooperate and the salt stings the various cuts over his body. But that is nothing compared to not knowing where Hannibal is. 

Struggling up, he only knows that he has broken the surface when he feels water dribble out of his cheek instead of push in. 

He gulps the air until he is dizzy. 

For a moment, all he can hear is a wounded animal, and his mind tells him it’s illogical, until he realises the screaming is him. He forces himself to quiet; focus.

Treading water, fighting against the currents below him, he looks around.

There is nothing to be seen. Another scream bursts forth. 

The cold begins to set in. He is sure he has never felt anything like it. It’s a chill deep in his bones and soul. 

The loss is keener than any knife. 

Lost in grief, he stops treading water and he begins to sink slowly.

The breath in his lungs buoys him,. Stretched out floating in the Atlantic, he knows how Ophelia felt. 

The decision is easily made; he will wait until either cold, exhaustion, or his injuries force him to succumb. 

Peace flows through him. A thought he spares to Molly and Walter, they had offered him a home when he hadn’t thought it possible. It all paled in comparison to the family Hannibal had offered and then taken. 

He’d forgotten how clear the stars were when not on land. 

Will supposes it’s a fitting ending: alone without him. 

***

Jerking awake, Will looks around in panic. 

Bleary eyes turn sharp quickly. Then warm hands pull him close. 

No words are spoken, they don’t need to be. 

Dry lips brush a kiss against his and he smiles into it. 

In Hannibal’s arms, by the rocking of the boat, he is lulled back to sleep.


End file.
